Large enough to consider how to position Grand Rapids to accommodate the next $1 billion of growth along the Medical Mile without losing a residential feel that would invite people to set up house close to work and educational opportunities.

And big enough to go after a $28 million federal transportation grant that would compress three decades of work into three years while connecting the city’s riverwalks with bike trails that feed into the regional bus system and link downtown to Medical Mile - which now has no direct path.

The ideas, overcoming you-can’t-get-there-from-here hurdles by filling in gaps, present an opportunity for the city, says Schulz, the city’s planning director.

”I think the vision, what’s exciting about it, is the economic spin-off,” she said. “There is so much that can happen when you have what we’re after. When you create amenities that complete the systems, people are willing to move and it helps to attract the creative class and people who seek healthy, active lifestyles.

”There’s a lot of great opportunities and what I worry about is what happens if we miss those.”

The wish list is long for Schulz and other Grand Rapids leaders who are trying to capitalize on the momentum of private investments and partnerships that have developed the downtown, which has not withered in a years-long recession.

In fact, a recently released Brookings Institute study shows Grand Rapids among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country. The research showed Grand Rapids is one of only 15 areas to gain jobs in the last four quarters in manufacturing and other sectors. Brookings also identified the city as having “output” growth.

This led to National Public Radio to interview Mayor George Heartwell on “All Things Considered” this week, allowing him to tout the conversion from an economy dominated by making things to a diversified environment where health and education have taken the lead.

Heartwell sees that trend continuing even as manufacturers adapt to new technologies and produce products beyond the traditional auto parts and furniture that has defined the area.

The growing presence of the hospital systems, the Van Andel Institute and Michigan State’s College of Human Medicine couples nicely with the expansion of Grand Valley State University’s downtown campus that will soon include the under-construction Seidman College of Business.

When stacked on top of the DeVos Place convention center, Van Andel Arena, an entertainment district with a wide array of bars and restaurants, Heartwell forecasts another push with Grand Action’s development of the Urban Market.

”We’re at a fascinating stage of our growth,” Heartwell said. “All of the cornerstones of the local economy should continue to grow and I think the next explosion will be more residential and corresponding retail downtown.”

He expects the market, a $27 million plan that includes a brew pub and restaurant, will be the center of rehabilitated buildings and newly built residential complexes.

”This will drive downtown further south than what we’re accustomed and it will spread to the east and west of (U.S. 131),” he said.

”We’re creating an environment that people will want to be, and people, including employers and entrepreneurs, are going to give Grand Rapids a second look.”

Developers declined to speculate on what might be the next big project in Grand Rapids, but Grand Action leaders have talked openly in the past about an amphitheater and performing arts center. Feasibility studies and market considerations have put off those discussions for now.

Schulz, meanwhile, will focus on landing the highly competitive grant for transportation, and improving Michigan Street to bridge the divide between Belknap Lookout and Heritage Hill. Linking those areas, which include the health industry and Grand Rapids Community College, with downtown’s center is huge, she says. There are barriers preventing people from directly crossing Ionia to Ottawa avenues and Ottawa to Monroe Avenue.

”There are 50,000 people in 50 acres there every day,” she said. “How do you take those resources and build it into the local economy?

”We’ve identified that way, maybe it won’t be for everyone, but it will be there and it could be a game-changer.”